Human Development & Family Studies Minor
Catalog Year 2024-2025
All courses must be completed with a C- or better.
The Human Development and Family Studies minor aims to provide students with integrated knowledge and an interdisciplinary understanding of family relationships and individual development throughout life. The curriculum is divided into two main areas: human development and family studies. In human development, students gain mastery of developmental principles and understand key tasks at each life stage, with a focus on the family as a developmental context. In family studies, students learn about intra-family processes like power, decision-making, and communication, and master various family theories and conceptual frameworks. They also analyze family dynamics, understand family ecological models, and examine the interaction between families and broader social, political, and cultural environments.
Minor Credit Requirements
A total of 16 Family & Consumer Studies credits are required for the minor. For residency requirements, 6 of those credits must be taken at the University of Utah.
Required Courses (6 Credits)
- FCS 1500 Lifespan Human Development (3) BF
- FCS 2400 Modern Family (3) BF
Electives (10 Credits)
- FCS 2100 Transition to Adulthood (3) BF
- FCS 2180 Family, School and Community Connections (3)
- FCS 2216 Interacting with Infants and Toddlers (3)
- FCS 2600 Introduction to Early Childhood Education (3)
- FCS 2610 Understanding Children’s Behavior (3)
- FCS 2620 Child Development Practicum (3)
- FCS 2640 Integrated Curriculum Methods (3)
- FCS 3215 Beginnings: Development in Infancy and Childhood (3) BF
- FCS 3245 Human Sexuality in a World of Diversity (3) DV
- FCS 3270 Parenting (3)
- FCS 3290 Race, Ethnicity, and Family Diversity (4) DV HF
- FCS 3300 Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health I (3)
- FCS 3370 Parenting Across Cultures (3) IR
- FCS 3380 Social Science and Medicine (3)
- FCS 3630 Intimacy and Love (3) BF
- FCS 4980 CSBS Internship in FCS (1-4)^
- FCS 5170 Creativity and Cognition in Young Children (3)
- FCS 5180 Autism Across the Lifespan (3) DV
- FCS 5200 Families and Social Policy (3)
- FCS 5230 Adolescence (3)
- FCS 5240 Mid/Later Life Adult Development and Family (3)
- FCS 5250 Theories of Human Development (3)
- FCS 5280 Marriage, Divorce and Remarriage (3)
- FCS 5282 Conflict and Mediation (3)
- FCS 5305 Therapeutic Play in Health Care Settings (3)
- FCS 5311 Childhood Health Care I (3)
- FCS 5312 Childhood Health Care II (3)
- FCS 5343 Family Advocacy and Policy (3)
- FCS 5370 Family Violence (3) CW
- FCS 5375 Trauma and Human Development (3)
- FCS 5380 Family Problems (3)
- FCS 5390 Gender, Race, and Sexuality across the Lifespan (3) DV
- FCS 5430 Families and Healthcare Policy (3)
- FCS 5962 Special Topics in Human Development (1-4)
^Up to 4 credits of FCS 4890 may be used towards the FPC minor